tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17874090.post114019678822367960..comments2024-01-12T05:40:00.544-05:00Comments on Positive Anymore: 3 Tendencies of Famous QuotationsBenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733601180382760718noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17874090.post-1140210720619086762006-02-17T16:12:00.000-05:002006-02-17T16:12:00.000-05:00Welcome, MZN, and thanks for the compliment. I'm g...Welcome, MZN, and thanks for the compliment. I'm guessing you're from the Northeast if positive anymore surprises you; so far that seems to be the region must immune to its peculiar charms.<BR/><BR/>Anyways, I think you're right on both counts. First of all, if I remember right, not only does Woody Allen cite Groucho, he says something like "I believe it was Groucho Marx or Sigmund Freud," alluding, I think, to the general tendency to attribute this quote broadly. And you're right furthermore that this doesn't matter at all; it's entirely trivial. But the fact that it is an observable phenomenon is interesting, at least to me. And you can misquote me, or Sigmund Freud, on that.Benhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02733601180382760718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17874090.post-1140204079654153882006-02-17T14:21:00.000-05:002006-02-17T14:21:00.000-05:00Doesn't Woody Allen actually attribute the club-me...Doesn't Woody Allen actually attribute the club-member quotation to Groucho? I haven't seen the movie in a long time but I think he does. But aside from that I wonder what difference it usually makes who said these things. If I say, "to the victor belongs the spoils," is my meaning in any way improved by citing the source of the phrase? (Of course, when GWB uses phrases from scripture as code to the base, it does matter where the words came from as the article about his speechwriter in the anniversary New Yorker issue makes clear.)<BR/><BR/>I'm here via the chocolate lady, btw. Nice blog! And for the record, I think the "positive anymore" usage makes no sense.mznhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12336592183292185884noreply@blogger.com